Greenfield suspects that the rise in popularity of Netflix has a lot to do with the rise in on-demand content, as consumers are just no longer interested in ownership. If this is the case it could spell trouble for Blu-ray: Hollywood is banking that physical media still has a few years of life left.
Google Searches Predict the Future?
Searches for DVD terms such as "DVDs," "movies on DVD," "new DVD releases," and "top DVD rentals" were off some 45 percent since their late 2008 peak, according to Google data. Contrast this with Netflix, whose query growth has eclipsed 90 percent for each of the past two years. Has the term Netflix become synonymous with home video like Google has to search?
The entertainment service's rise in search queries does match up pretty well with its dramatic subscriber growth as of late. However the Google research paper that Greenfield cites in his report also notes that current subscribers themselves were increasingly using the term Netflix in their own searches.
If that's the case, maybe my Google analogy isn't that far off.
It's Full Stream Ahead For Hollywood
Much of Netflix's growth seems to be due to online streaming. Greenfield notes that a large number of players are either solidifying or throwing their hats into the space -- -- which likely means were only just seeing the beginnings of a serious ramp up in interest in this format.
But let's get back to Blu-ray and what this could mean. Sales data shows that the format has just now been able to get itself on par with . While research group NPD says about 77 percent still watch movies on DVD yet, streaming has become much more popular.
Match this up with the growth in interest of Netflix (at least according to Google), and , and Hollywood has got to be a little worried.